Sunday, 4 December 2016

A new series of Pup Parade begins in The Beano in the New Year issue, which will be on sale on Wednesday 28th December. This series will only be half-pagers, but I'm still enjoying writing and drawing them. This accompanies the new series of Ivy the Terrible mini-strips that I'm also doing which also starts in the same issue. Never Be Without A Beano!

Saturday, 3 December 2016

I haven't been in The Beano since the recent relaunch but I'll be back in the New Year issue, on sale 28th December, writing and drawing the return of Ivy the Terrible (shown here) and Pup Parade. Right, I'd better get back to the drawing board for the next set of strips....

Friday, 2 December 2016

Here's a sneak preview of a new strip I'm drawing for D.C. Thomson's Epic! It doesn't start until January so I won't reveal too much now, just to say that this is one of the characters. I'm only providing the art for this series, but it's all good fun, and it's interesting to work from scripts provided by someone else for a change. More news soon!

Sunday, 27 November 2016

On this day 125 years ago, my grandfather William Bakewell was born, in Leicester in 1891. He had a very hard start in life, orphaned by the age of 5 he was put into a boys home in Desford where life was very strict. When he left the school (at age 14 I think) he earned his keep by working as a farm hand on various farms around the Midlands.

He eventually settled in Nuneaton, finding regular work looking after the horses that did the deliveries for the local railway. It was in Nuneaton where he met and married my grandmother in 1920. Tragically, their first child, also called William, died as a baby on Christmas Eve, but they went on to have two more children, my mum, and my Aunt Joan.

Grandad and grandma, late 1930s.

Grandad was in the ARP during WW2 and continued to work for the railway until he retired, working on the capstan after the horse-drawn deliveries were replaced by lorries. He and his family lived in the houses rented from the railway (specifically for railwaymen) in Bond Gate, where the road to Asda is now, near the station. Those houses were set for demolition in 1957 so they had to move. My grandmother had died in 1952, and my grandad never remarried.

Grandad, Grandma, Aunt Joan, Mum, Blackpool 1946.

By the time I was born in 1959, my parents were living with my grandad and Aunt Joan (plus two cats and a dog) in a three up, two down council house. We were a small, close family, which is why I still miss them all today. (My parents and I moved to our own council house nearby in 1963, and I bought my own house years later.)

Giving me a ride in his wheelbarrow, 1961.

As you can see from the photos, my grandad looked like a traditional grandad of the times. He was the best grandad I could have wished for, and used to take me long walks with the dogs on Sunday mornings and was good company. There's a comics connection too, as I remember him telling me how he used to read Illustrated Chips that was shared around the boys' home in the 1900s. (His favourite characters were Weary Willie and Tired Tim.) He also bought the occasional Andy Capp book for himself when he was older.

With all the pets, 1966.

When I started making up my own comics when I was 7, they were mostly about my grandad and family pets. Here's one of my first crude efforts from early 1968...

My grandad was a good, kind, honest, hardworking man with old values who inspired his family to be likewise. He passed away in 1980, but I still remember him well so I wanted to post this tribute to him today.

Saturday, 26 November 2016

Here's a preview panel from the next issue of Toxic, on sale Wednesday 30th November. In the previous issue, Krunk's robot body was melted, so now Doc Shock puts his hard drive into a new body. But it's affected Krunk's personality! See what happens next in Team Toxic in Toxic No.281 this Wednesday!

Friday, 25 November 2016

I'd forgotten that last week was the 30th anniversary of Pete and his Pimple! The character and his huge zit debuted in Oink! No.15 in November 1986, and became a regular in the comic until the last issue in 1988, before transferring over to Buster for about six months. There's the first episode above. I remember I was experimenting with inking with dip-nibs at the time, and I wasn't too happy with the results so I soon reverted back to using Rotring pens. I changed the look of Pete a bit as time went on, particularly his hair. Here's a later appearance where he starred on the cover...

...and he even had his own 8 page pull-out comic in Oink! one week...

Here's a page I did for the United Comic Art Convention (UKCAC) booklet in 1988. The original art was auctioned for charity so I've no idea where it is now.

I really enjoyed doing the Pete strips, and Oink! allowed me to do a few unusual strips, such as this musical one...

The high print standards of Oink's early issues meant that I could embellish the strips with a grey wash (ie: diluted black ink), which gave it a nice depth. Will Pete and his Pimple ever return? Who nose? If you want to find out more about Oink! comic or wallow in a prime pigsty of nostalgia, move your trotters to click on this link to Phil Boyce's Oink! Blog...http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk

About Me

Welcome to my art blog where I'll be showing previews of my current work along with scans and bits and bobs about my comic strips from the last 30 years.
I have been working as a freelance artist and writer in British humour comics since 1983. Along the way I've created characters such as Combat Colin, Tom Thug, Pete and his Pimple, Robo-Capers, Derek the Troll, Brickman, The Suburban Satanists, The Dark Newt, Tranny Magnet, and more.
My work has appeared in The Beano, The Dandy, Buster, Viz, Oink!, The Transformers, Daily Star, Sunday Sport, Sonic the Comic, CiTV Tellytots magazine, Toxic, Spider-Man, Sweet FA, Lucky Bag Comic, Know How, Lego Adventures and numerous other publications.
Internationally, my work has appeared in Elephantmen, Grindhouse (USA), Herman Hedning, Nemi (Sweden and Norway).